The invention described herein was made in the performance of official duties by a employees of the Department of the Navy and may be manufactured, used, licensed by or for the Government for any governmental purpose without payment of any royalties thereon.
The invention relates generally to dive masks, and more particularly to dive mask that integrates a display and its control system for supplying dive information to the display.
For obvious reasons, a scuba diver must be aware of certain critical information such as the diver""s depth, the status of his breathing apparatus, and the total time of the dive. Typically, the diver is supplied with a number of timers, pressure gauges and/or other displays for monitoring critical information. These timers/gauges/displays are either wrist-worn devices, mounted on a console that the diver wears/carries, or are placed/attached to the diver""s face mask. The problem with wrist-worn or console-type devices is that the diver may not be able to see or access the devices because of tasks involving the use of both of the diver""s hands (e.g., operating cameras, sonar devices, navigation or other data logging device, etc.). Further, if visibility in the water is poor, the diver may not even be able to see the device.
For these reasons, it is preferred for critical dive information to be made available at the diver""s face mask as is the case in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,033,818 and 5,764,203. However, in each of these display systems, the ultimate display occupies some portion of the diver""s field of view. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,818 relies on multiple reflections of display information within the face mask before the display information can be viewed by the diver. This means that the device""s alignment is critical to proper functioning of the device. Such alignment could be compromised during use or general handling of the face mask. An additional concern with U.S. Pat. No. 5,764,203 is that this device is mounted to the face mask thereby making the face mask more cumbersome while the device itself is more susceptible to damage during both use and general handling thereof.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a dive mask that integrates a system for monitoring critical dive information.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dive mask and integral dive information monitoring system that provides the diver with an unobstructed field of view while simultaneously making the dive information viewable within the dive mask regardless of visibility conditions.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a dive mask having an integral dive information monitoring system that is well protected during both the use and handling of the dive mask.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a dive mask having an integral dive information monitoring system that requires no cable connections thereto.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious hereinafter in the specification and drawings.
In accordance with the present invention, a dive mask display system is provided for use in monitoring dive information. A dive mask has at least one lens defining a field of view and a frame supporting the lens. The frame will interface with the face of a diver. A plurality of components are integrated in the frame. These components include: a radio frequency (RF) antenna for receiving RF signals indicative of dive information, a display that is directly viewable in a peripheral vision area of the diver but outside of the field of view defined by the lens, a controller coupled to the RF antenna and display for processing the RF signals in accordance with predetermined programming options to generate an output, and an input device coupled to the controller for selecting one of the predetermined programming options. The output associated with the selected programming option is passed to the display for the visual presentation thereof. The controller can further be used to track bottom time for the diver. A depth sensor can be embedded in the frame to monitor the diver""s depth. The various monitored information can be displayed simultaneously.